Best Meltwater Alternatives 2026: Top Media Monitoring Tools Compared
TL;DR - Quick Answer
11 min readQuick tool comparison. Features, pricing, and what works best for your needs.
Meltwater: $25,000/year average. Better options exist.
Jump to: Quick Pick · Top 7 · Compare
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Why Switch from Meltwater?
Expensive. Median cost is $25,000/year. Many teams can't justify that spend.
No transparent pricing. You can't budget without lengthy sales calls.
Pushy sales. Users report aggressive renewal tactics and frequent upselling.
Overkill for some. If you don't need media monitoring, you're paying for unused features.
What's the median annual cost for Meltwater?
💡 Tip: Think carefully before selecting your answer!
Top 7 Meltwater Alternatives
1. SocialRails
$29-99/month · Best for AI content + scheduling
Best for teams who need content creation more than media monitoring.
Try SocialRails free →2. Brand24
$79-399/month · Affordable social listening
What you get:
- Real-time monitoring
- Sentiment analysis
- Influencer identification
- Custom alerts
- Share of voice reports
Budget-friendly alternative for social monitoring without media focus.
Which Meltwater alternative is most budget-friendly for social listening?
💡 Tip: Think carefully before selecting your answer!
3. Brandwatch
Custom pricing (~$20K+/year) · Social intelligence leader
What you get:
- Consumer research
- Trend detection
- Image recognition
- Advanced AI insights
- Global coverage
Similar price to Meltwater but stronger on consumer intelligence.
Read Brandwatch Review →4. Cision
Custom pricing · PR-focused monitoring
What you get:
- Media database
- Press release distribution
- Media monitoring
- Journalist outreach
- Analytics dashboard
Better for pure PR needs vs Meltwater's broader scope.
5. Hootsuite
$99-739/month · All-in-one with listening
What you get:
- Social scheduling
- Brand monitoring
- OwlyWriter AI
- Team collaboration
- 150+ integrations
Combines scheduling with listening at fraction of Meltwater's cost.
Read Hootsuite Review →6. Sprout Social
$249-499/user/month · Mid-market with listening
What you get:
- Advanced analytics
- Social listening
- Unified inbox
- CRM integration
- Team workflows
More accessible than Meltwater with transparent pricing.
Read Sprout Social Review →7. Mention
$41-166/month · Lightweight monitoring
What you get:
- Real-time alerts
- Competitive analysis
- Influencer tracking
- Boolean search
- Slack integration
Good for teams needing basic monitoring without enterprise overhead.
You want media monitoring for under $1,000/year. Best option?
💡 Tip: Think carefully before selecting your answer!
Feature Comparison
You need social listening AND content scheduling. Best value option?
💡 Tip: Think carefully before selecting your answer!
How to Switch from Meltwater
Step 1: Export your data
Before switching:
- Download historical reports
- Export keyword lists
- Save alert configurations
- Document workflows
Step 2: Pick your alternative
Step 3: Plan migration
- Set up new tool (1-2 hours)
- Recreate monitoring queries (2-4 hours)
- Configure alerts (1 hour)
- Train team (varies)
When Meltwater Still Makes Sense
Keep Meltwater if you:
- Need full media monitoring (300K+ sources)
- Have multi-year contract with good terms
- Require integrated PR + social platform
- Budget isn't a constraint
- Use Meltwater's specific integrations
Your marketing team wants to cut monitoring costs by 75%. Best approach?
💡 Tip: Think carefully before selecting your answer!
Quick Answers
Best budget alternative? Brand24 at $79/month or Mention at $41/month for social listening.
Best enterprise alternative? Brandwatch for social intelligence, Cision for PR focus.
Best all-in-one alternative? Hootsuite or Sprout Social for scheduling + listening.
Best for content creation? SocialRails at $29/month with unlimited AI content.
Can I migrate data from Meltwater? Export reports and recreate queries. No direct import available.
Cost Savings Summary
Savings depend on your specific Meltwater contract.
Bottom Line
Meltwater: excellent for PR, expensive for everyone else.
Our pick: SocialRails for content, Brand24 for monitoring.
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